MOLST: A New Way to Make Your Treatment Wishes Known

[ABSTRACT]

It is a nightmare scenario, but maybe not the one you have been educated to anticipate:  you are critically ill, and people call 911 to get you to a hospital. However, you have a life limiting medical condition, and you don’t want aggressive medical treatment. Nevertheless, once in the hospital, the physicians treat you with all the technology at their disposal.

Patients find themselves getting care they don’t think they want for a variety of reasons. Physicians in the emergency room assume that patients come to them to save their lives. This assumption is reinforced by fears that they may be sued if they withhold treatment. Further, physicians and nurses may assume, often correctly, that the patients don’t understand the critical nature of their condition and dismiss requests for less treatment as uninformed or irrational.

To address the need for clearer guidance to those caring for critically ill patients, Massachusetts has adopted a new approach, known MOLST (medical order for life sustaining treatment).

For more information on MOLST please see our full blog article: http://whiteoakcottages.com/molst-a-new-way-to-make-your-treatment-wishes-known/